When you are on a tight budget, saving money seems to be your top priority even if you can only put small amount of money away each time. Small changes do add up, so does money saving. Re-evaluating your spending habits can give you a chance to explore you saving opportunities. Do some research and you may find out that you are spending too much on groceries or household items, or you may be able to reduce the cost on fees and interests that you are paying. To live a frugal life, you should learn how to plan your purchases in advance and make full use of items, especially when you have a tight budget and paramount needs for saving.

1. Be aware of how much you are spending.

If you don’t know how much or where you spent your money, you can’t figure out a good way to save. So the first thing is to do some homework. You should keep all the receipts for each purchase in a month—no matter how small it is. Create a spreadsheet or use computer programs to tally all the receipts up and be honest to yourself. Also, ask your roommate or family member to take part in this process so both of you can have a better understanding of your spending habits.

2. Cut down the expenses.

Now you know where your money goes and you can try to cut down the costs whenever possible. Skipping daily coffee is a good start to save money, so as the refinancing of mortgage. Brainstorm the ways available to save by writing down all the possible categories of your living expenses including utility, cell, auto, debt, insurance, groceries, entertainment, etc. Try to use public transportation instead of your own car to save on gasoline. Study the home energy efficiency tips to save on utility bills. Call your credit card companies to lower the interest rates. Literally, there are unlimited ways to cut your expenses down—just try to think actively with some creativity.

3. Be a thrifty shopper.

Daily shopping is one of large living expenses. If you really want to save some bucks, you should learn to become a thrifty shopper. Take full advantage of sales, discounts and bulk purchases promotions and all the other deals. When you are shopping in grocery stores, use coupons as much as possible. In addition, buy used stuffs instead of new ones and visit local thrift stores often.

4. Make full use of items.

By extracting the maximum value of your items can save you significantly more money. Suggested by Brian Dakss from CBS News, “You could keep your furniture, clothes or any other stuffs from wearing out too soon with some maintenance skills”. It can save you hundreds of dollars per year by spending time to take care of your clothing, cookware, cleaners and all the other items in your house. Information about maintenance can be found on the manufacturer’s website. You can also save up to thousands of dollars by taking good care your car. It is reported by ConsumerReports.org that today’s cars can last up to 200,000 miles with just a few repair work if it is cared for properly.

5. Pay yourself first.

Again, saving starts with small money, and even just one dollar makes difference. You can make you saving process less challengeable by asking your employer to cut a share from your paycheck and directly save it to your saving account.